KEY POINTS:
Three tries from fullback Lance MacDonald helped Bay of Plenty lift off the bottom of the Air NZ rugby competition in style today.
They beat Tasman 30-26, scoring four tries to two, at Lansdown Park in Blenheim and no longer hold the woodspoon position approaching halfway in the 14-team competition.
Going into the sixth round match without a win, BOP beat a team standing six places above them in the competition with the help of a bonus point for scoring a minimum four tries.
While much of the glory went MacDonald's way for his three tries through his impeccable timing in joining the attacks, it was perhaps blindside flanker Colin Bourke who made the biggest impact for the winning side.
Apart from kicking three penalty goals and a conversion to keep off any threat from the homeside, Bourke linked his team's attacks and defence at crucial times with a powerful all-round game.
He missed a seventh minute penalty goal and then dropped a catch with the goal line only metres away in the 20th minute before BOP muffed another chance four minutes later - when Michael Delany lost the ball in a maul after halfback Jamie Nutbrown was held up over the line.
However, that underscored BOP's attacking ability and dominance which finally paid off when MacDonald straightened a backline attack and stepped past three defenders to open the scoring in the 28th minute.
Delany converted the try to put his team into the lead after Tasman first five-eighth had kicked a penalty in the fifth minute and added a second in the 34th minute.
Bourke's experience of backplay also came to the fore when he took a pass from a ruck and glided through a gap to set up winger Charles Baxter for his team's second try for a 12-6 halftime lead.
Bay of Plenty's relentless attacks enabled MacDonald's second try, in fact it followed about a dozen phase play which eventually caught Tasman short out wide.
Bourke and Taylor traded two penalties each before BOP looked to have sewn the game up with the bonus-earning fourth try - scored again by MacDonald as a result of Delany slipping through a hole following a lineout.
Bourke converted the try and BOP were on the way to victory - leading 30-19.
The homeside found some momentum in the last five minutes, scoring two tries through midfielder Joel Iggo and captain and flanker Alex Ainley before Bourke landed his third penalty goal on the fulltime buzzer.
Tasman also earned a bonus point for finishing within sevens points.
BOP 33 (Lance MacDonald 3, Charles Baxter tries; Colin Bourke 3 pen, con; Mike Delany con), Tasman 26 (Joel Iggo, Alex Ainley tries; Tim Taylor 4 pen, James Foote 2 con). Halftime: 12-6.
- NZPA
